DISTRIBUTION OF LEADERSHIP AMONG ECE LEADERS AND MEMBERS OF MUNICIPAL COMMITTEES IN FINLAND

Abstract

This article will focus on studying early childhood leadership operationalised within municipalities in Finland. The study examined the perceptions of the members of municipal committees and municipal Early Childhood Education (ECE) leaders about the core purpose and leadership of ECE. The data was collected through focus groups and analysed using qualitative content analysis. The findings indicate that ECE leaders and members of the municipal committees have a common understanding of the importance of distributed leadership. The most salient challenges were the differences in the way the core purpose of ECE was understood, uneven distribution of authority and lack of tools to enable the effective distribution of leadership.